Avant/Garde Diaries recently interviewed BWI and DAA founder Ninette Murk on her ideas of what is avant-garde.They say: "Ninette Murk is on a mission to make the world a better place. After a close colleague died from AIDS in 2004, the former fashion editor founded the Antwerp-based non-profit Designers Against AIDS. The organization seeks to raise AIDS awareness towards the general public and in the international media, with a specific emphasis on young people in industrialized countries. In 2007, DAA collaborated with fashion behemoth H&M, and has worked with celebrities such as The Cure’s Robert Smith, Yoko Ono, Rihanna, and Timbaland. For The Avant/Garde Diaries, she introduces Beauty Without Irony, which aims for a return to inspiration from beauty for beauty’s sake, minus the hype and hip-now/lame-tomorrow novelty of fashion seasons. Murk states: “The things that make people most happy are for free. Beauty, love, other cultures – I think it can be very inspiring to realize that most of the things that you need to be happy you have already.” Enjoy the video!